Busy in Maine, Visit to Canada and Lobster with friends

As I said as I ended my last post. We made it to Timberland Acres in Ellsworth, ME and we did meet up with our friends Steve and Debbie at Down the Road. Check out Debbie's blog. She does a great job of posting details and photos of their travels.

Well we got settled in our site and got together with Steve and Debbie who had already checked in. They had to stay on a site overnight before moving to a site next to us. Once we got our hellos out of the way we decided to get some lobster ASAP. We found a nice lobster pound near the Trenton Bridge.

Everyone chose a nice big lobster with all the fix'ns like corn on the cob and cole slaw. We fully enjoyed our first real lobster dinner. 

Steve, of course, got the BIGGEST one. They were meaty, tasty and delicious. This is the way to enjoy lobster. 

After a big lobster dinner we took a drive and found an ice cream shop and had some delicious hand dipped ice cream. 

We took a drive through Acadia NP the next day and saw the wonder of the Maine coast experience

These views below are from Cadillac Mountain. . 

These are photos around the visitors center and along the coast. Such beautiful landscape and worth the trip. 

The photo opportunities were endless and very scenic. You have to have your photo taken with a background like this. 

We drove around the Park Loop Rd and stopped at several places for photos like Thunder Hole. 

At the time we were there, there wasn't much thunder. But when the tide is coming in and the waves are crashing the narrow inlet you see above, it allows the waves to surge very high and if you're standing on the ledge next to it you will certainly get a watery surprise. 

So many places to stop and so many places to see. Here are a few photos of different areas we visited on our auto tour that day. 

Debbie and Hurley

Steve contemplating his life like the seas with ebbs and flows

What a fun day and the girls were feeling a little frisky too. 

Of course during our stay in Ellsworth, ME we did some usual things like laundry and grocery shopping but overall we tried to do some touristy things too.

We had to contend with some weather while there so we took a drive one rainy day to Bangor to see a movie and get a bite to eat. While Glenda nd I were in Bangor we found a nice little brewpub called Mason's so we took Steve and Debbie there for some great food and brew. Fun was had by all. We even noticed a couple of geocaches nearby so we went looking for them. Along with that we saw a little ice cream place and had some dessert.

The weather cleared the next day and Debbie had seen an ad for a nearby Lobster Festival in Rockland, ME. Well we couldn't pass that up so off we went to get some more lobster and mingle with the locals.

Steve and I started with a lobster roll and the girls had shrimp and scallops. After we had our lobster roll we noticed another tent that had steamed lobster dinners for a about the same price we paid for just a lobster roll. Need to read the signs before jumping into a quick decision. 

One of the attractions at the lobster fest was a lobster crate running event. Kids of all ages and sizes signed up to race across a string of lobster crates in the harbor. Someone would keep count of how many crates the kids were able to run across until they fell into the water. Most kids were only able to run across a few however there were a few that ran across all the crates several times. There were 50 crates strung together from one dock to the next. If you made it to the other side you had to run back and forth until you fell in. 

There was quite a crowd of folks watching and cheering on the kids. I'm sure the water was a little chilly and they had guys in dinghies along the course to get the kids out of the water as quickly as possible. 

We walked around the festival grounds and even found a geocache there too. We samples other types of festival food fare and a couple other photo opportunities. 

After that day of exploring we weren't finished yet. The next day we decided we needed to check out a small portion of New Brunswick on the Maine/Canada border. We drove to Lubec, ME that claims to be the most eastern town in the USA. They had a nice little brewery and after a little libation we got a good recommendation for something to eat at Frank's Dockside Restaurant. Nice view on the patio.

Frank's

Our view at lunch

After lunch we drove over the bridge connecting Lubec to New Brunswick. We stopped at the Canadian checkpoint and they asked if we had anything that should not come into Canada like firewood. Well yes we had firewood in the back of Steve's truck. Since you can't take firewood in, we had to turn around and unload the wood in an empty lot in Lubec and go back again. This time they let us in. 

We drove around looking for geocaches and lighthouse's and we found both. This was our first time in Canada and we enjoyed the landscape on the sea. 

The bridge from the US to Canada

Once we got back into the US we finished out day of exploring at the Quaddy Head Light. This is the eastern most point in the US. Not just the eastern most town.

The landscape here is breathtaking and the lighthouse is beautiful. 

What an eventful day. Just the kind of scenery and places we hoped to enjoy on our trip to Maine. 

Now it was time to do some hiking at Acadia NP. We decided to try the Precipice Trail. It's rated as HARD and there are iron wrungs and ladders to scale up the side to the mountain trail. It's a good thing Glenda didn't read the sign prior to starting the hike. 

Enlarge the photo to see the warnings

We're on our way and right off the bat it gets challenging. Climbing up boulders and crossing along the side of the mountain. 

Up we climb

Follow the blue dots

We're getting higher

Ladders

Long way down

Hang on tight

How much farther is it? 

Once we got to the top the views were spectacular. 

Good looking group

The trail back down was less eventful since we took a different trail back(The Orange and Black Trail). Acadia NP is a place I would enjoy coming back to again in the future and it always is more fun with friends.

Found the Geological Marker at the top

The alternate trail down

Of course after a hike like that we had to have some nourishment

It was a wonderful visit to Maine and sharing the experience with Steve and Debbie. This trip to the NE was to be our one time visit to this area of the country but after the experiences we have been having I don't think this will be our last time. We still have New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Pennsylvania coming up. I'm sure I haven't posted all the things we did but this should give you a good idea. Here are a few random photos I haven't shared yet.

The Maine coast is so beautiful with so many things to do. I can see why folks continue to return year after year. We did take a drive through Bat Harbor while in the area too. Unfortunately we didn't get to explore much due to the size of our truck, parking limits and overcrowding of people. Best left for another visit at another time with a different vehicle. :-)

We've moved on from the Maine coast and headed to NH and into VT. Equally beautiful states with tons of things to see and do. More on that in another post. Thanks for following along.

I feel that my posts can not do justice to our visit there. A camera can not capture the sights the way we saw them with our eyes. We're so happy we were able to share this time with our good friends Steve and Debbie. Thanks for following along. 

PS.....Very disappointed we never got to see a moose either.